Happy Hour Love

The last time we went to Cacao Mexicatessen, we knew we'd be back for the chips and awesome smoky-spicy salsas. This time, we went during happy hour.

Happy Hour spread

Chicharrones for a dollar. And corn. Oh the corn. It was covered in crema and cotija and chicarrones. Let's have a close up.

It was one of the richest things I've eaten in a long time.

The corn also made me think of my dad. He really liked sweet corn. As kids, he would scold us for not eating every single kernal off of the cob. Corn wasn't something that one wasted. And we would scrape until our gums were sore to try and avoid his disdain. And then, to add insult to injury, he would take our finished cobs and do another pass, because there was no way we could ever properly eat corn on the cob.

This corn would have pleased him. And even though I thoroughly succeeded in eating my corn, I know he would have taken my bare cobs and polished them off, just the same.

If You Like Cheese...

...the Artisan Cheese Gallery in Studio City is the place for you. The blue cheese in the Cobb Salad was incredible.

*** Important note! This is a half salad, and I was only able to eat half of it. So, unless you're sharing, a half salad should be more than enough for a hearty meal.

Hubs had The Mr. Fred. The cheese wasn't too prominent, not prominent enough, in my opinion. But the pain de mie it came on was really good.

Tapas in P-dena

Okay, no one calls Pasadena "P-dena" but I think it could happen. No?

Racion is a cozy little restaurant serving some interesting tapas.

The sangria had apple cider in it. Strange. A little overwhelming for the wine.

The chicken croquettes were super creamy-gooey and were paired with a big ol' clump of goat cheese and a smear of honey on the plate. What's not to like?

Fried oysters were good. I didn't like the cocktail sauce stuff. It kind of tasted like the stuff out of the jar. And, a personal pet peeve, tapas are for sharing. The croquettes and the oysters were served in sets of three. Grrrrr. I don't like cutting things in half.

The braised beef tongue was perfectly cooked on fresh, fragrant, oily bread.

The duck sausage stuffed squid was the most unique dish. All the flavors were really interesting together, but the sauce was just a basic marinara. Something more romesco inspired would have been more special.

And, finally, custard for dessert. Yum.

All in all, it was a good meal. Not amazing, I'm not dying to make a return trip. But the space was cool, yet romantic, and worth a stop in if you're craving some tapas and in the P-dena area.

Birthday Brunch and the Shakes

We technically went to my birthday dinner at Alma on the day before my birthday because it's not open on Sundays. So I still had some celebrating to do for my actual birthday, and I started with brunch at Lazy Ox Canteen.

Hubs had the chicken and waffles, which was of monumental proportion.

The chicken was good. The waffles weren't crispy enough for me.

I had the salmon plate, which was exactly what I had in mind.

A little caper aoli for schmear. Put it all together...

Perfection.

And some rosemary potatoes on the side.

There was no rosemary, more of a seasoned salt, which was fine by me since I'm not huge on the rosemary. Plus, they were super crispy on the outside and very creamy inside. I love a good potato.

And the best butterscotch pudding for dessert.

Three cheers for breakfast brunch!

After brunch we walked across the street to Demitasse, a fancy coffee place that specializes in Kyoto coffee. I had a regular iced coffee. It came in a large glass and it tasted strong, but nothing crazy. I'm not overly sensitive to caffeine. I've been known to drink coffee and still nap. But at midnight, I was still wide awake from the coffee I'd finished ten hours earlier. I had the shakes all day.

We walked over to Chinatown and I took this shot of City Hall reflecting in the new downtown police station.

Chego for dinner. You can read about past experiences here and here.

Birthday Dinner

I've been wanting to eat at Alma for awhile, so it was a no-brainer when my birthday came along where we were going to celebrate. I had one of the best meals I've had in awhile. My words can't really do it justice. Overall, everything was unique and inspired. A special meal, indeed. I'm going to list all the dishes as they were listed on the menu.

Seaweed & tofu beignet, yuzu kosho, lime.

The funk of the seaweed meets spongy tofu, all deep-fried with a kick of something spicy and dash of lime brightness.

Uni toast, burrata, caviar, licorice herbs.

Ocean salt from the uni and caviar combined with the salt from the burrata melded perfectly on a rich piece of toasted bread. One of the highlights of the meal.

Summer corn soup, vadouvan, nasturtium.

It was a typical corn soup, but with a scoop of savory green ice cream to dissolve into it. Extremely interesting and fun to eat, but with all the flavor to back it up.

Smoked white bass, peach, avocado, okra, shaved padron.

This was my favorite dish! It was so fresh. The peach sauce was perfectly balanced. I wouldn't have been able to place the peach if it wasn't printed on the menu. The raw sliced okra tasted like the fresh jalapeno without the spice. It was just awesome. I could've easily eaten another order.

Grilled scallop, bacon, corn, miso, apricot.

This was good, maybe not as unique as most of the other dishes. The apricot and scallop pairing was special, though. And the edible corn silk was fun.

Dry aged New York steak, snails, asparagus, morel, smoked garlic bearnaise.

This wasn't my favorite. The steak was very rare, which was good, but difficult to cut. Also, there were a lot of bold flavors competing. It was still delicious, but it wasn't as nuanced as the other dishes.

Warm fig, pu erh, brown butter madeleine, pine brittle. And a candle for my birthday!

I've never had a fig that I've liked, but if you disguise it with perfectly toasted marshmallow and madeleine and whatever pu erh is, I will eat fig and I will enjoy it.

I imagine the menu changes all the time to accommodate fresh ingredients. This is a restaurant that I would love to visit every few months to see what dishes the changing seasonal produce inspires. Thank you for a beautiful birthday dinner!

Recent Celebrity Sitings

I've crossed paths with two up-and-comers and one classic beauty recently.

Most excitingly, Michael B. Jordan was eating at the taco stand near my apartment. No, it wasn't as exciting as when Ryan Gosling was there, but I think Michael B. Jordan is going to be a big deal after FRUITVALE STATION comes out. I mostly know him from TV shows I've caught a few episodes of, like FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS and PARENTHOOD (yes, I know, I should watch all of Jason Katims' shows), and is probably best known for his role in CHRONICLE. Anyways, he's young and talented and handsome and, apparently, likes tacos.

On our way walking to get some fro-yo, we were waiting to cross the street with none other than queen meanie Sadie Saxton from AWKWARD. If she wouldn't have been with a friend, I would have complimented her and the show, because I love them both so much. But maybe I wouldn't have, because I couldn't remember her real name for the life of me. Oh, and another thing I hate about Hollywood, she's supposed to be the "fat" girl on the show and she's considerably thinner than me when we're standing side by side. Sigh. Oh, and her real name is Molly Tarlov, and she looks like a Molly. Love her!

Finally, the classic. Jane Seymour was across the small restaurant at my birthday dinner at Alma. Hubs thought it was her when she walked in, I didn't see her. But he mentioned it later, and I could easily pick her out in the back corner of the room. Even from a distance, she was recognizable and stunning.